diff --git a/nvflare/fuel/utils/log_utils.py b/nvflare/fuel/utils/log_utils.py
index a603fad0c7..2e15b5ee98 100644
--- a/nvflare/fuel/utils/log_utils.py
+++ b/nvflare/fuel/utils/log_utils.py
@@ -94,24 +94,32 @@ def format(self, record):
             record.fl_ctx = ""
             record.identity = ""
             message = record.getMessage()
+            # attempting to parse fl ctx key value pairs "[key0=value0, key1=value1,... ]: " from message
             fl_ctx_match = re.search(r"\[(.*?)\]: ", message)
             if fl_ctx_match:
-                fl_ctx_pairs = {
-                    pair.split("=", 1)[0]: pair.split("=", 1)[1] for pair in fl_ctx_match.group(1).split(", ")
-                }
-                record.fl_ctx = fl_ctx_match[0][:-2]
-                record.identity = fl_ctx_pairs["identity"]  # TODO add more values as attributes?
-                record.msg = message.replace(fl_ctx_match[0], "")
-                self._style._fmt = self.fmt
+                try:
+                    fl_ctx_pairs = {
+                        pair.split("=", 1)[0]: pair.split("=", 1)[1] for pair in fl_ctx_match.group(1).split(", ")
+                    }
+                    record.fl_ctx = fl_ctx_match[0][:-2]
+                    record.identity = fl_ctx_pairs.get("identity", "")  # TODO add more values as attributes?
+                    record.msg = message.replace(fl_ctx_match[0], "")
+                    self._style._fmt = self.fmt
+                except:
+                    # found brackets pattern, but was not fl_ctx format
+                    self.remove_empty_placeholders()
             else:
-                for placeholder in [
-                    " %(fl_ctx)s -",
-                    " %(identity)s -",
-                ]:  # TODO generalize this or add default values?
-                    self._style._fmt = self._style._fmt.replace(placeholder, "")
+                self.remove_empty_placeholders()
 
         return super().format(record)
 
+    def remove_empty_placeholders(self):
+        for placeholder in [
+            " %(fl_ctx)s -",
+            " %(identity)s -",
+        ]:  # TODO generalize this or add default values?
+            self._style._fmt = self._style._fmt.replace(placeholder, "")
+
 
 class ColorFormatter(BaseFormatter):
     def __init__(